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Cool !!! Time to start a new, photo filled, thread about my beautiful LTD ! I have had quite the interesting story to tell with this project but instead of rehashing the past, this thread will be about the future ! If you want to know about past accomplishments and crashes you can look in these two threads >>> kzrider.com/component/option,com_joomlab.../catid,11/id,171044/ and kzrider.com/component/option,com_joomlab.../catid,11/id,171044/

OK onto the future ... Today I started tinkering with my bike and the parts bike (parts bike courtesy of The Gringo btw ... Thanks Again !!! )

First my good KZ and the parts bike and my notorious assistant, Becca the Destroyer, LMAO !!!

Today I removed the mirrors, bars, handlebar related accessorys and front fender from the bike to be repaired and removed the front fender from the parts bike. I also removed the rear shocks from the parts bike ... All the parts I'm gonna reuse I'll get cleaned up this weekend (hellava snowstorm outside today ... good excuse to sit in front of the TV and polish chrome stuff !) I also test fitted the "superbike" style bars ... I think I'm gonna like 'em !



The bars will have to come back off because in the weeks to come I have to replace and upgrade damaged forks and other wrecked stuff on the front of my LTD. I'll keep a pretty good photo record of changing out the fork and tripple tree assembly ... wireing, gauges assembly, etc. I'll post a few pics here after each good days progress .... outside of cleaning some chrome stuff up .... this may well be as far as I get till after Christmas ... I can't wait till I get her back up looking and rolling like it was in ths pic.



Post edited by: KZCSI, at: 2008/02/27 20:20

"Becca the Destroyer". That's kinda funny now that some time has passed. Bet she's glad to see things getting fixed back up. Bet you're pretty happy, too! Good luck on getting it back up to how nice it was.

lol ... Thanks KZErider, I gave Becca the twisted front fender as a joke gift / momento ... she is gonna make a planter out of it ... girls jeez



Post edited by: KZCSI, at: 2008/02/27 20:18

Wow ... February 10th already ... I gotta kick this project in the butt and get going !!! Today I made some good progress tearing down my KZ (see pic) ... maybe tommorrow or the next day I'll have the bent front end off and can start dissmantling the parts bike. Depends on the weather really ... on cold and espesially windy days even my big salamnder heater has a hard time keeping up.



Post edited by: KZCSI, at: 2008/02/27 20:18

Made some more progress this past weekend. I tried to loosen everything and pull the front end around on my good bike. I managed to get everything looking pretty straight until I tried to tighten the lower triple clamps bolts .... and everything would pull out of whack ... sooooo .... pretty sure something is bent somewhere. I then proceeded to pull the front end off my parts bike. >>>

But ran into yet another problem. It would seem that sometime in the past someone has converted the parts bike steering stem bearings to roller bearing ... as opposed to the loose ball bearing that are in my good bike. >>>

Ya see I really need to keep both bikes rolling so I can move 'em around .... I'm gonna have to convert the steering stem bearing on my good KZ to roller type bearing .... just gotta be a better setup anyways !!!

Post edited by: KZCSI, at: 2008/02/27 20:17

Began dissassembling the forks from the parts bike today in preparation for new seals and oil. WOW !!! Are they ever dirty inside. Is this typical ? >>>

All the dirt laying on the milling machine bed is what came from inside the fork tube. It was nearly packed full of this black mud. I have lots more work to do .....

Post edited by: KZCSI, at: 2008/02/27 20:16

Sounds like a good job for Becca!

My 16 year old daughter is wanting to help me get my bike up to speed. Hopefully she'll help with the fork oil change and the oil and filter change this weekend. Of course, she's so busy with music and homework that I doubt she'll be able to fit it in.

I'm sure the obsession has to do with her class reading "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". I didn't get as much out of the book as she did (took me all summer ) The discussion about stripped screws making you want to throw your bike away was right on the mark though.

When I first told Cassie what Becca had done and should her the pics of your bike, she asked if Becca was grounded for life! She's right, I probably would have been a lot less forgiving then you were!

Keep sending those pics!

Oh no worries .... Becca will have plenty to do to get my bike back up and running !!!

I'd like to have one of those 750 fours to swap out my 650 engine with... the extra 100cc's would be sweet...

Kingcobra, I havn't ridden a KZ650 since the 70's and I remember them as being really quick. But my 750 is really, really quick. The previous owner told me it had a 810 kit, or so he thought. I'm not tearing into the engine to verify, no need right now.

Would the 750 engine be a direct bolt in to a 650 chassis ?

Bit more progress today .... my dented tank goes back to the painters today .... woohoo !!!

Post edited by: 2M4Dale, at: 2008/02/21 06:36

79 KZ650SR with an 83 GPz750 motor in it sitting in my shop right now

Direct bolt in with minor problems with petcock
(hit top of carbs so switched to Pingel),
charging system (fixed by using 650 stator),
ignition (switched to KZ750 pickups and
ignitor), and due to it being a GPz750 motor
lack of tach drive (using a electronic tach).

Post edited by: steell, at: 2008/02/21 09:18

I'd say it depends on what year kz650. I'm pretty sure that the early 80's kz650's and kz750's used the same frame.